ABC FIFA World Cup on ABC is the branding used for presentations of the
FIFA World Cup produced by the
American Broadcasting Company television network in the United States. ABC first broadcast World Cup matches in
1970, when they aired week-old filmed highlights shown on
ABC's Wide World of Sports. ABC next broadcast the
1982 FIFA World Cup Final. Beginning in
1994, ABC was the official American network broadcaster of the World Cup up through
2014. ABC also broadcast the
FIFA Women's World Cup in
1999 and
2003;
Fox took over the American World Cup TV broadcasts in 2011, which took effect in 2015.
1970 The first American telecast of a World Cup match was when
NBC aired the final between
England and
West Germany from
four years prior. NBC there, aired the contest on a same-day
tape delay using the
BBC’s
black-and-white feed. In
1970, it was ABC's turn to broadcast the World Cup final. While ABC aired the contest between
Italy and
Brazil in
color unlike what NBC did in 1966, ABC decided to wait until
Christmas, six months after Brazil won, to show it as part of an episode of
Wide World of Sports.
1982 In
1982,
PBS and
ESPN provided the first thorough American television coverage of the FIFA World Cup.
ABC aired the first
live telecast of the final. ABC aired commercials during the live action. Meanwhile, PBS aired
same day highlights of the top game of the day. :
Commentators •
Giorgio Chinaglia (studio analyst) •
Paul Gardner (color commentary) •
Mario Machado (color commentary) •
Jim McKay (play-by-play) •
Jack Whitaker (studio host)
1994 The
1994 FIFA World Cup marked the return of the World Cup on
ESPN and
ABC and the first time they used their own commentary teams for all matches.
Roger Twibell and
Seamus Malin were the lead broadcast team.
Al Trautwig and
Rick Davis were the secondary broadcast team. Other play-by-play announcers were:
Bob Carpenter Bob Ley,
Ian Darke,
Randy Hahn, and
Jim Donovan.
Ron Newman, and Bill McDermott.
Jim McKay was the studio host alongside studio analyst
Desmond Armstrong only for games on ABC. The 1994 American coverage had many firsts: The first with all of the matches televised, the first with no commercial interruptions during live action, and the first to feature an
on-screen score & time box.
1998 In
1998, all 64 matches were televised in the United States live for the first time.
Bob Ley and
Seamus Malin was the lead broadcast team with other broadcast teams include:
Roger Twibell and Mike Hill,
JP Dellacamera and
Bill McDermott,
Derek Rae and
Ty Keough, and Phil Schoen and
Tommy Smyth.
Brent Musburger and
Eric Wynalda worked in the studio.
2002 Unlike in 1998, when ESPN and ABC paid $20 million for the broadcast rights to the World Cup, the English-language rights for the 2002 and 2006 editions were sold instead to
Major League Soccer for $40–50 million. Through an agreement with the
Walt Disney Company, ESPN and ABC would air both tournaments at no cost, while MLS would cover production costs and sell advertisements via its newly-created marketing arm,
Soccer United Marketing. In
2002, 59 matches were broadcast live, along with 5 rebroadcasts on ABC, with coverage from
Japan and
South Korea carried live in the American late night
graveyard slot. Hockey play-by-play announcer
Jack Edwards and
Ty Keough were the lead broadcast team and called the games live in
South Korea and
Japan. Other broadcast teams were:
JP Dellacamera and
Tommy Smyth,
Glenn Davis and
Shep Messing, and
Mike Hill and
Shep Messing, and
Seamus Malin, however, they were based at the
ESPN headquarters in
Bristol, Connecticut.
Terry Gannon hosted in the studio alongside studio analysts
Eric Wynalda and
Giorgio Chinaglia.
2006 The
2006 coverage from
Germany was fully live as well.
Dave O'Brien joined
Marcelo Balboa on the lead broadcast team for the
2006 FIFA World Cup coverage on ESPN and
ABC Sports, despite having no experience calling
soccer matches prior to that year. Because
The Walt Disney Company, owner of both television outlets, retained control over on-air talent, the appointment of O'Brien as the main play-by-play voice was made over the objections of
Soccer United Marketing, who wanted
JP Dellacamera to continue in that role. Disney stated that their broadcast strategy was intended, in voice and style, to target the vast majority of Americans who do not follow the sport on a regular basis.
Mispronunciation and incorrect addressing of names, misuse of soccer terminology, and lack of insight into tactics and history plagued the telecasts, resulting in heavy criticism from
English-speaking soccer fans, many of whom ended up watching the games on
Univision instead. Other broadcast teams included:
JP Dellacamera and
John Harkes,
Glenn Davis and
Shep Messing,
Adrian Healey and
Tommy Smyth, and
Rob Stone and
Robin Fraser.
Brent Musburger returned for his 2nd World Cup as lead studio host with other hosts
Rece Davis, and
Dave Revsine.
Alexi Lalas,
Eric Wynalda,
Julie Foudy, and
Heather Mitts were the studio analysts.
2010 The
2010 coverage from
South Africa introduced
ESPN 3D for 25 matches.
ESPN's coverage of the 2010 World Cup has been widely recognized as a breakthrough in U.S. soccer broadcasting. Esteemed commentator
Martin Tyler and
Efan Ekoku led a team of all-British commentators in
South Africa.
Chris Fowler and
Mike Tirico were the lead hosts in a studio set right outside of
Soccer City in
South Africa. Other broadcast teams were:
Ian Darke and
John Harkes, who called
USMNT games,
Derek Rae and
Robbie Mustoe,
Adrian Healey and
Ally McCoist, and
Jim Proudfoot and
Roberto Martínez. Studio analysts were:
Steve McManaman,
Jurgen Klinsmann, Martínez,
Ruud Gullit,
Alexi Lalas,
Shaun Bartlett, and
Tommy Smyth.
Bob Ley was another studio host, working his 4th World Cup. Reporters were:
Jeremy Schaap (United States and Final),
Julie Foudy,
Allen Hopkins,
Rob Stone,
Selema Masekela,
Andrew Orsatti (Australia), John Sutcliffe (Mexico), and Dan Williams
2014 The 2014 World Cup marked the end of the
FIFA World Cup on
ABC and
ESPN.
Ian Darke,
Steve McManaman, and
Taylor Twellman was the lead broadcast team,
Jon Champion and
Stewart Robson were the #2 team. Other play-by-play announcers were:
Derek Rae,
Adrian Healey,
Daniel Mann, and Fernando Palomo. Color commentators:
Craig Burley,
Efan Ekoku,
Roberto Martínez,
Kasey Keller, and
Alejandro Moreno. All commentators were in
Brazil with the top 5 teams at the stadiums while the remaining team called matches off monitors in
Rio.
Mike Tirico was the lead studio host alongside other hosts
Bob Ley and
Lynsey Hipgrave with analysts:
Alexi Lalas, McManaman,
Michael Ballack, Moreno, Keller,
Gilberto Silva,
Santiago Solari, Martínez, Twellman, and
Ruud van Nistelrooy. Reporters included:
Jeremy Schaap (Lead),
Julie Foudy,
Bob Woodruff, John Sutcliffe, Rubens Pozzi. The
2014 coverage was available on mobile devices and tablets via the
WatchESPN application, as well as on
Xbox 360 and
Xbox One video game consoles, live and on-demand, via the ESPN on Xbox Live application.
NBC FIFA World Cup on NBC is the branding used for presentations of the
FIFA World Cup produced by the
NBC television network in the United States. NBC was the official American network television broadcaster for the international
soccer competition in
1966 and
1986.
1966 The first American coverage of the World Cup consisted only of a
previously filmed telecast of the
1966 Final on
NBC. The Final was aired before their coverage of the Saturday
Major League Baseball Game of the Week. NBC used the
black & white BBC feed and aired it on a two-hour film delay. This was the first time soccer had been shown in the United States as a stand-alone broadcast. Previously,
ABC's Wide World of Sports had shown
England's Football Association Cup on as long as a two-week delay.
1986 On October 6, 1984. NBC's
anthology series,
SportsWorld provided World Cup soccer qualifying coverage featuring the
United States and the
Netherlands Antilles.
1986 marked the first time that the World Cup had extensive live
cable and
network television coverage in the United States.
ESPN carried most of the weekday matches while
NBC did weekend games. NBC aired seven matches, including the
"Hand of God" quarterfinal, with broadcasters on-site. NBC's theme music for their 1986 coverage was
Herb Alpert's "1980", from his 1979 album
Rise. It was originally a cue meant for the ill-fated
1980 Moscow Summer Olympics broadcasts. Meanwhile, ESPN aired about 25 matches that year, all with broadcasters in studio. NBC's producers were forced to run the games' audio feed through
telephone lines rather than through
satellites. This was because the
International Broadcast Center in
Mexico City crossed up many communication lines. Consequently, various countries received commentary from others (or no sound or video at all). NBC in this case, received commentary from somewhere in
Southeast Asia and so were forced to have
Charlie Jones call collect and broadcast the
Italy-
Bulgaria opener via a handset telephone receiver. NBC lost the sound but still had video so Charlie Jones dialed collect again.
Commentators •
Don Criqui (studio host) •
Rick Davis (color commentary) •
Charlie Jones (play-by-play) •
Seamus Malin (studio analyst) •
Paul Gardner (color commentary)
Telemundo Deportes' On October 22, 2011, Deportes Telemundo acquired the Spanish language rights to broadcast the
FIFA Men's and
Women's World Cup for around $600 million, replacing
Univision as the tournament's Spanish language broadcaster, which began carrying the World Cup tournaments in
1970 (
Fox acquired the English language U.S. broadcast rights through a separate agreement). The deal, which began with the
2015 Women's World Cup and runs through 2026, includes rights to associated
FIFA-sanctioned tournaments (including the Men's Under 20 and Under 17 World Cups, and the Men's Beach Soccer World Cup), which will be telecast on Telemundo and NBC Universo; the deal was extended on February 12, 2015, to include rights to the
2026 FIFA World Cup. On May 16, 2015, during Telemundo's 2015–16
upfront presentation in
New York City, it was announced that Deportes Telemundo would be replaced by a new division initially known as
NBC Deportes; the new division was formed as a branch of the English-language
NBC Sports division, and be responsible for sports content for Telemundo, NBC Universo and related digital platforms. While it retained all existing sports telecast rights and programs aired by both Telemundo and NBC Universo, the latter network also began to expand its sports coverage, primarily in preparation for the
2016 Summer Olympics and the start of the division's contract with
FIFA—whose first events included the
2015 U-20 World Cup and
Women's World Cup.
Fox Sports The English television rights to the FIFA World Cup have been held by
Fox Sports since the 2018 edition and are set to run through 2026. The rights were originally set to expire in 2022, but that tournament's move to a November–December schedule prompted FIFA to award the 2026 rights to appease Fox, who had prior commitments to air other sporting events during the period. The 2022 World Cup broadcast was criticized for ignoring Qatar's human rights issues.
Telemundo holds the Spanish television rights to broadcast the FIFA World Cup in the United States; their contract was also renewed through 2026. == Head-to-head record ==